Ask the Expert: Founder of Sonny's BBQ shares his philosophy on food

Sonny Tillman turns 85 today, an occasion that prompted him to take a look back at his early days in the food business and how he came to open the first Sonny's BBQ.

"I was hanging drywall in Gainesville, when the economy in the Cape Canaveral area exploded," he said. "So, I started work over there, and had a friend with a barbecue restaurant. I helped him out here and there, and got to fiddling around in the kitchen. Pretty soon I couldn't wait to finish work, get a shower and get back to the restaurant - it was the most fun I'd ever had working. So, when he opened a restaurant in Cocoa Beach, I took a pay cut to go work for him - on his promise to open a Gainesville restaurant for me [to operate]. That was 1968 and that's how it all started."

Brought to you by Sonny's BBQ

Today, 46 years and more than 120 restaurants later, Tillman is no longer involved in running the Sonny's BBQ chain, but has kept the same philosophy of food - especially barbecue - that made Sonny's such a success.

"The idea is to make people happy," Tillman said. "You've got to start with a good product - the best quality meat, use good wood to smoke it, then cook it slow and easy with tender loving care, and present it well. It's pretty simple, and it works whether you're in a restaurant or your own backyard."

Tillman also recommends that all cooks consider their audience.

"An example is our sauces," he said. "A lot of men like a very hot, fiery sauce, but we feed a lot of women and children, who don't like their barbecue sauce that hot. So, with five sauces, we can pretty much please everybody. I think that's the key: You're not cooking for yourself, you're cooking for other people and you have to keep that in mind."

Tillman has passed along that philosophy to everyone who has ever worked for him. It is also an essential element of Sonny's Pitmaster certification program.

"I've always cooked the same way I did back in that Cocoa Beach restaurant," he said. "I just tinkered with the food till I got it right. And I think - in a way - that's what the Pitmaster program does. It teaches the Sonny's BBQ experts to 'tinker' around till they get the food just right."

Barbara Gavan is a staff writer for the Specialty Publications department of the Times-Union.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.

Stay Connected

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
The Florida Times-Union ~ 1 Riverside Ave., Jacksonville, FL 32202 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service